


Progress

by TheBuggu



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, OT6 if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-28
Updated: 2014-10-28
Packaged: 2018-02-22 23:29:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2525642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBuggu/pseuds/TheBuggu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on a prompt from tumblr, along the lines of the Autobots teaching Decepticons to learn to read after the war.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Progress

**Author's Note:**

> I've been in such a writer's block. :C I wrote this with the hopes to try and get creative juices flowing.

Prowl didn't believe the revelation at first; it just seemed impossible. And yet...here he was sitting in front of the gestalt, watching with an incredulous expression as they each scrawled on their datapads with tablet pens. If not for the fact that he hadn't tried to issue written orders to the group, he never would have learned that none of them--save Hook who was even then limited to medical terms--knew how to read.

It hadn't taken long to spot how uncomfortable they all appeared to be as Prowl waited for their input. Stammers. Avoidance of eye contact. The type of body language when one felt embarrassed and was hiding something.

And after a long, pointed, silent stare from Prowl, they fessed up.

It seemed illogical to Prowl. They were Constructicons. They created foundations and buildings. And they had to rely on blue prints to do so.

Any irritation that Prowl felt seemed to have dissolved away after getting a meek response from Scavenger that they only knew how to read the blueprints by the shapes. Somehow, they made it work without literacy. Something so simple and taken for granted it seemed.

Prowl took matters into his own hands immediately after learning the truth. This would be huge blackmail material if any other Cybertronian learned of it. He led them to a secret office he confiscated and locked incognito. There was enough desks for them all to sit and five datapads to practice reading and writing. _He_ would teach them.

Yes. That was his only motivation.

And...perhaps a modicum of pride. He may have had no choice in being bonded with them, but he would be damned if he was going to accept being in a gestalt with illiterate mechs. Ergo, he had to teach them at all costs.

So, he had to test their ability to write first. And it was a snails-pace beginning. Aside from Hook again, they had terrible form with holding their styluses.

Regardless of what Prowl thought of the group, he never once heard a single complaint from any of them. They all expressed eagerness; their gestalt bond overflowing with more intimate yearning.

Prowl pushed up from his chair and walked directly in front of his desk, leaning against the table top as he stared at the five mechs.

“Enough. Show me your work,” Prowl ordered softly and observed how five servos flinched as their owners lifted their gazes up. He spotted a few more dashes added before each Constructicon placed his stylus down.

He was handed five datapad's simultaneously and carefully gathered them into a neat pile.

“I expect you all to meet back here within a solar cycle. Don't be late,” Prowl explained to them as he turned away and returned to his seat. He could feel their gazes on his back, watching intensely. He could feel varying waves of nervousness and anxiety through the bond. Afraid he would be unimpressed with their work.

He waved them out. And he waited for each mech to leave the room.

When he was finally alone, Prowl focused his attention on the datapads and flicked the one at the top of the pile on. He was stunned when he saw its contents. His...name was written on it. Several times. The only word. The handwriting had a slight curve to the right.

Prowl stared, feeling stunned.

His mouth pulled back into a purse as he moved the top datapad to the side.

His name was the only word on the next one as well. The characters were shaky and scribbled...but it was still his name.

Next datapad.

Prowl.

This time, the handwriting used a larger font size.

Next, next datapad.

_Prowl._

The handwriting seemed much more fancier than the others. Possibly Hooks?

The last datapad.

_**Prowl.** _

A left slant, with a heavy inking. Perhaps from the stylus being pressed too hard.

He wasn't sure how long he sat in the office, staring at the five datapads from the Constructicons. He made a soft snort, but his mouth broke out into a tiny smile.

Progress, however unconventional, was nice.

**Author's Note:**

> Please excuse any typos. This was un-beta'd. Thanks for reading!


End file.
